Orono Wrestlers Send 3 to the State Tournament
In another first for Orono wrestling, eight boys placed in the 5AA Section tournament Saturday. With the top two place winners in each weight earning the right to compete in the state tournament, Orono is sending 3 boys to St. Paul this weekend at the Xcel Energy Center. Senior Captain Jonny Schmid (126), Sophomore Captain Bobby Striggow (182) both placed first in their brackets. Also qualifying was sophomore Marcus Ostvig (113) with a 2nd place finish.
Senior Captain Jonny Schmid (126) earned a third trip to the State Tournament in as many years with convincing wins in the Section Tournament. An opening round bye and a quarter final pin of Pheng Xiong from Minneapolis Patrick Henry set up Schmid’s semi-final round match against Matt Hughes of Richfield. Jonny defeated Hughes with a fall in 2:31. Schmid continued his winning ways with an 8-2 decision win over Nic Fite of Fridley in the finals.
Sophomore Bobby Striggow (182) began the tournament as the top seeded wrestler in his weight. With two opening round byes, Striggow’s semifinal match ended with a fall over Matt Heurung of Totino Grace. In the final match, Striggow dispatched Noah Keith of Bloomington Kennedy with a 3-0 decision. This is Bobby’s second trip to the State Tournament.
Sophomore Marcus Ostvig (113) started the tournament as the three seed. An opening round fall and quarter final decision put Ostvig in the semifinal match against Andrew Nowacki of Minneapolis Edison. Ostvig won the match 9-2 and earned him a trip to the finals where he faced Josh Clark of Totino Grace. Ostvig came up short but still earned his first trip to the State Tournament.
Freshman Henry Beck (120) and Lukas van Dyck (138) both suffered semi-final round losses but battled back to earn third place honors. Sophomore Blaine Bauman (170) lost his opening round match but won his next three matches to earn a spot in the consolation finals. Bauman came up short and finished the tournament in 4th place. Eighth grader Danny Striggow (152) earned a pin in his opening round but ran up against the eventual winner, Jake Liecht of Bloomington Kennedy in the semifinal round. The loss sent Striggow to the consolation bracket where he won his next round. A loss in the consolation finals left Striggow in 4th place for the tournament. Freshman Nick Simafranca (132) lost his opening round match but managed to finish the tournament in fifth place.
Other Orono wrestlers competing in the tourney included Spencer Schuh and Jacob Liska..
Wrestling for class AA begins Friday at 9:00 for the three boys. The State Tournament is being held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Round 2 action is scheduled for 4:30. The semi-final and championship rounds will be held Saturday.
